Electronic Arts, the creator of the acclaimed "Medal of Honor" first-person shooter video game series, has pulled ads from its website that linked to opportunities to purchase real guns.
The site for the game "Medal of Honor: Warfighter" featured ads for Magpul, McMillan, and other companies that sell guns, knives and tactical gear.
After the school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in which a lone gunman armed with semiautomatic weapons killed 20 children and six adults, calls from gun control advocates put pressure on EA to pull the links.
"We felt it was inappropriate and took the links down," EA told BBC News.
However, ads for the companies still remain on the site, as does a video featuring gun manufacturer Magpul.
First-person shooters, especially those with a contemporary setting, often feature real-world weapons. Players use those weapons in realistic ways, finding and reloading the proper ammunition and selecting the most advantageous weapon to shoot and kill in-game adversaries.
While players often laud games for their authenticity, some gun control advocates worry that the games glorify weapons, and many more are uncomfortable with anything that makes it easier to locate or purchase guns.
"There is really no constructive purpose served by making it easy for gamers to learn more about real weapons; those who choose to do so can perform a simple Internet search," said Michael Pachter, a video game analyst for Wedbush Securities, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter.
In a bizarre press conference last week, the National Rifle Association tried to cast blame on violent video games for mass shootings like the one in Connecticut, rather than the easy access to guns promoted by the NRA.
Vice President Joe Biden will head a task force aimed at reducing the incidence of mass shootings, and the panel will take a look at the influence of video games, among many other issues.
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